Meze by Lemon Tree

Meze by Lemon Tree is a celebrated Istanbul restaurant specializing in the art of the meze — the small shared dishes that form the foundation of Turkish and Eastern Mediterranean social dining. Located in the Tepebasi district of Beyoglu, close to the Pera Palace Hotel and the Marmara Pera, the restaurant is the creation of chef Guher Boran, who trained in Turkey and France before dedicating her culinary vision to the elevation of meze into a sophisticated dining language in its own right. The menu runs to more than thirty cold and hot meze preparations, drawing on the full regional breadth of Anatolian and Aegean culinary traditions while applying French-influenced precision in presentation and technique. Signature dishes include a smoked eggplant with walnut cream that has become the restaurant's most iconic preparation, a herb-laden Aegean salad dressed with wild greens, and creative seasonal preparations that arrive in small, visually composed servings. The dining room is elegant — warm lighting, comfortable seating — without the austere formality of Istanbul's most expensive fine dining rooms. Meze by Lemon Tree is widely regarded among food-focused visitors as a must-visit experience that captures the full potential of Turkish meze culture in a single, focused restaurant.